"Seeing Red" by Susan Crandall. Good balance of mystery/suspense with the romance. Sometimes the sexual tension made me want to yell "do it already", but that's the whole point of tension huh? It was my first romantic suspense that I've read of Susan's (I think it's her second overall) and I liked it. It's a genre that's hard to balance both the romance and the suspense, so hats off to those authors who can do it.

Since we already talked about this a bit, but hey, if you want to read my WIP, let me know, (heh, do I know how to trick someone into cp-ing or what?). Just kidding. Sort of. LOL ? (anyone see How I Met Your Mother last night? The only way that little joke makes any sense at all).

Anyway... I think single title mysteries and historicals are probably not what you want...if I can presume what you want. ;) Some will have touches of romance, but it's often a very small percentage of the book, so you have to be in it for the mystery, primarily, and then it's good to know what kind of mystery you want, as these things seem to have become very fractured (paranormal, amateur sleuth, detective, procedural, etc)

I highly recommend my Blaze coming out in July, as it has a good romantic mystery/suspense plot (as does the one in Oct, the one next May, and the Christmas 2010 one... I am just full of it today, aren't I???).

But seriously, I always recommend the Berkley Prime Crime books, particularly Charlaine Harris (though not Sookie as much as her other series) and Cleo Coyle. I don't think you can lose there. Also Annette Blair's Vintage Magic. (Check out the links to these sites on my website links page)

I love mystery where the relationships are well developed and the plot is strong -- and you find more of that these days, though in general the two genres, mystery and romance, are very different from each other in some very important ways, and combining them in the right proportions is a trick. I find I can write a romance that has a mystery plot fairly easily, but a mystery with romantic elements is much harder, so I respect when it's done well.

I'll let you know if I pull it off... unless you want to read my wips... hee.

Sam

I'm pretty sure this is the best blog thread title we've ever had!

Sam

Madelyn Alt. She has the Bewitching Series with a touch paranormal and a romantic storyline but the emphasis is on the mystery.
I agree with Sam about the Prime Crime line. (good info Sam so how can you be a blog hog?)
Susan's book was kinda dark. I've read a couple of her contemps, but she's found her niche with romantic suspense. I used to read a lot of mysteries, but then switched to romance. Romantic suspense gives me a bit of both worlds.

Hee.

Diana writes great titles and I go for the most obvious, bonus points for a pun.

Seriously, though. I don't read mysteries and I almost never read suspense so I have nothing to add to this conversation. I do recommend Diana's supremely mean critiques, however. She's rotten, but talented. ;-)

I'm much help! (Awesome title, BTW!) I'm kind of a big chicken, so I've read some romantic suspense, but I get freaked out if it's too creepy, so there's only so much I can read. I did get sucked into Mariah Stewart's Last series, but that really felt more like mystery with a sprinkle of romance to me (take that with a grain of salt, knowing that I'm not exactly a connoisseur). I just read Toni Anderson's Her Sanctuary (TWRP e-book), and that felt like a nice balance to me. I've also heard good things about Shannon McKenna's McCloud books. And Leslie Kelly's got a new series coming out that's written as Leslie Parrish that's supposed to be darker stuff... Anyway, keep us posted, please! Would love to hear if you do find satisfaction :)

I have been reading alot of stephanie Bond lately, i like her body movers series, ive read 1 and 2 so far. They're pretty good murder mysteries, and three men thrown into the mix for the heroine to toil over. She still hasnt made up her mind. I'm rooting for the rough cop!

And i've heard good things about lisa jackson's latest. (can't think of title)

i like a good mystery, especially if theres a god romance throw in and not just a hint of it! That gets on my nerves, and i agree i hate the scooby doo without shaggy, whats the point.
cool post
jody

In fact I don't think I've read a romantic mystery that wasn't funny. The obvious is Janet Evanovich's One for the Money series. I thought the first was beyond fab, but the others were more of the same and started to get on my nerves. I love Gemma Halliday's books, which I think she calls "chick lit mysteries" and Stephanie Bond's are also fun in the same funny-and-not-scary way. They are also all series, so no HEA in each book. But like you said, neither the mystery or the romance is that important in any of these--they're just components of a fun and entertaining reading experience.

You do realize that if you can't find what you want, it's your duty to write it....

Jen
http://www.jenlewis.com

I'm kind of a wimp so I don't go in for the really scary stuff. Susan Crandall is probably about as dark as I get. I love Roxanne St. Claire's Bullet Catcher books - good mystery and romance plus hunky, alpha heroes. I just finished a terrific romantic suspense by Annie Solomon called ONE DEADLY SIN. Loved the romance. Loved the mystery. It's the first book I've read by her but definitely won't be the last!

Great blog title! LOL!